


All in the name of Love

by BasicallyUSWNT



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: 2017, College, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:39:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9581525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasicallyUSWNT/pseuds/BasicallyUSWNT
Summary: When Mallory Pugh joins the UCLA Bruins in 2017, she never thought that she'd fall in love. Especially not with a National Team Rival.-.





	1. First Sighting

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all like this!

 

  
When Jessie Fleming learned that Mallory Pugh was committed to UCLA she was shocked. Shesl were sure that the American would sign with UNC or Stanford. But at the same time she was excited. To be able to play with one of the youngest and rising names in women's soccer.

But that came to a small half when Mal announced she would hold off her freshman year to focus on the Olympics. 

-January 2017-

It was her first day at college.  
Usually she'd be excited. But today? Mallory was nervous. She was awoken by her alarm going off at 5am, singling for her to get up and go for a run and to get a few touches on the ball in before her first class began at 8:00.

Mallory sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed and rested them on the floor as she reached over and grabbed her phone.  She winced as her eyes met a bright screen. The forward unlocked her phone and saw she had 2 messages.

One was from Lindsey Horan and the other from Morgan Brian. The national team had dubbed Mal, Moe and Lindsey's love child. That's why she had them in her phone as Mom #1-Lindsey- and Mom #2-Moe-. She also had the National Team group chat that she had to catch up on.

She laughed as she read the messages.

Mom #2- Have fun at your first day baby America

Mom #1- Don't talk to strangers and pay attention. College is very important.

Mallory laughed at Lindsey's before replying to Moe's

'Thanks mom.

Can't wait to see you again. Miss you'

As Mallory got up from her bed she replied to Lindsey's

'Yeah  like you would know how important college is. Miss 'I skipped college to go pro' can't wait to see you soon. I miss you'

Then she went to the group chat. Most of the messages were the gals wishing her luck on her first day. Mal smiled at that and responded   
'Thanks guys. Can't wait to see you all again'

Mal locked her phone as she got into the bathroom and shut the door. She turned the shower in, plugger her phone into her dock and played her morning playlist, undressed and got in

After her shower, the American got dressed in a pair of Nike shorts and a white shirt with a black Nike logo on it. And slipped her feet into a pair of Nike running shoes, securing her hair into a ponytail. Mal slipped out of her room, making sure she had her key, her ball and phone on her before locking it.

She walked down the quiet hall, only a few were up at 5:40am.   She shivered slightly as her body met the cold air of the outside.  It was a cool 66 degrees out that  morning. Mallory placed her earbuds into her ears as she pressed on her workout playlist, and started off in a slow jog.

The path she was taking that would take her to the soccer fields was about 4 miles long. Which ment Mal would get a decent workout in.

As she ran, the sun started rising. The forward stopped to take a few pictures. She picked the best one and posted it on her instagram with the caption " early morning LA sunrises are the best" then put her phone back in the arm holder, adjusted her ball(that was in her bag) and continued running.

By the time she reached the field it was 6:18 and her forehead was covered in a sheet of sweat.  Mal was the only person there. She unplugged her headphones, placed her phone on the bench and sat down to put her cleats on. Once tied the freshman grabbed her ball and walked onto the field. The wet grass brushed against her ankles as she walked down to the nearest goal and placed the ball down at the top of the 18.

The American took a few steps back before lineing her hips up. She counted the steps,went back, relined herself and took the shot.

She ran up slamming her left foot into the ground and kicking hard with her left.  She scored. This is how it went for the next 20 minutes before Mal grabbed her stuff, put her running shoes back on, placed her cleats and ball into her bag and pluggered her phone in again and took off running.

The sun was creeping up as she walked into the dorm lobby, making her way up to the stairs to go to the 2nd floor. It was 7:00, so Mallory had just enough time to shower-again-, eat breakfast and then still have time to be on time to her first class.

As she was unlocking her door she heard an alarm go off in the next room over.

"Jessie get up" She heard Anika yell to the Canadian. Mal laughed to herself as he walked back into her room, set the keys on her dresser and headed off to shower again.

By the time she got out it was 7:34. Mal got dressed in a Suicide Squad shirt, black jeans, a UCLA sweatshirt and black converse. She combed her hair and put it back in a ponytail.

The night before she made sure to have her bag packed with everything she would need for that day. Notebooks, pens, pencils,her laptop, charger and phone charger. Plus a few other essential items.  
Mallory checked her hair once more, swung her bag onto her shoulders and walked out into the hall and locked her door making sure to slip her key into her pocket of her jeans. She didn't even realize it but she had walked slam into Jessie Fleming, as she turned to go down the hall.

"I am so sorry" She said, feeling her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. She helped the Canadian up, who looked starstruck.

"You're Mallory Pugh!" she said with a smile. The American grinned

"And you're Jessie Fleming!" She said back with the same excited tone.

All Jessie did was wink at her turned on her heels and walked down the halls. Leaving Mal flustered and eyes wide.

She finally snapped out if it when Jessie's roomats Anika skimmed pasted her in the hall. She shook her head and walked down the hall making her way to her first class of the day, biology

 


	2. Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this whilst listening to Panic! At The Disco.
> 
> Comments are welcome.
> 
> If you see any mistakes please let me know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team bonding

Along her way to Biology, teammates Teagan Micah and Chloe Hemingway caught up with the American.

"So Mal, you excited for the upcoming season?" The Aussie asked her, a grin on her face.

Mal thought about it then smiled. "I'm really excited. I wish I could of joined you all last year. But ya know I had National Team stuff. And the Olympics" the 18 year old responded.

"You were amazing down in Rio by the way. Sucks that you guys got eliminate so soon" Chloe said.

Mallory nodded, the memories flashing through her mind. She had suffered an injury during extra added time, forcing her to come out earlier then she expected too.

The US team went on to lose on Penalty kicks to Sweden, ending their Olympics early. The trio rounded the corner of the science building and separated. Teagan and Mallory going to Bio and Chloe going to the Marine Biology part of the building.

It was only 7:56 by the time the two found seats near the back and next to Anika and Claire.   
"I heard the professor likes to assign a lot of homework" Mal whispered to Claire, who covered her mother to stiffle her giggles.  
"Oh please who ever said that was trying to throw you off. Professor Robinson is the nicest teacher. Barley assigns homework." The midfielder said, smirking. The bell rings not long after she spoke, and the professor walked in. Something told Mal this would be an easy class

-  
Finally after 2 more classes it was time for lunch. Teagan and a couple of other girls from the team were going to go grab some lunch at a local cafe. Mal decided to go with them, to go and become aware of her surroundings.

The cafe was only a couple minutes away from the campus, so Mal made sure she had her wallet and made her way over to the gals.   
"Ready?" Alyssa said, her hair up in a bun.   
"Yep!" The forward smiled, the breeze blowing the stay hairs that escaped her ponytail around.  
The group made their way down the sidewalks, some kicking up conversations with friends. One girl stayed back and walked with Mal.   
It was Jessie.

"Hello" The Canadian said, a slight smile on her face.

"Oh hey Jessie." Mal said, smiling back. The two had briefly met after they ran into each other down in Rio. But after Mal left to head back to the states they lost contact.   
"So how have you been?" Jessie asked the girl, as they came up to the cafe. The other girls talking loudly, talking about who was goin to win the Mexico/Canada match that was taking place next month to celebrate Canada winning bronze at Rio.

"I've been okay. Haven't been able to train with the nation team for a couple weeks, I picked up a small ankle injury."The forward replied to the older female as they walked in, Mal holding the door for Jessie.

"Hope you get to feeling better." The midfielder voiced as she took her spot in line.  
"Thanks. So how have you been?"

"Been alright. I leave in about a week or so for camp, but I'll be back around the 10th"Jessie said.

Mal nodded and looked up at the menu. She decided to get a chicken ceaser salad with a water. Just something light and that would hold her over til dinnertime.

Once she ordered and paid, she went over to were her teammates were crowded around.

"As I was saying earlier"Anika started.  
"Mexico obviously has a chance I mean Canada doesn't have McLeod"

Mal turned to face the girl.  
"They might not have Erin but they have 2 great keepers. Especially Stephanie Labbé. They have Sinclair, Tancredi and they have Jess. So I think Canada is going to win. Scratch that. Canada is going to win." She finished a smirk on her face.

"Well said." Teagan said and smiled at the younger girl.   
The group quickly fell back into talks about the national teams. Mallory pitching in a couple times, saying how good Germany,France and England were during the SheBelieves Cup.

Once everyone had their food, Anika found an empty booth that they could sit at.  
With all of them trying to squish in( we'll all 6 of them), it forced Mal to sit next to Jessie. Not that she had anything against her. It just she would of liked to sit next to Chloe.

Mal ate rather quickly, only having a small breakfast after her run. She was tuning everything out until she heard Teagan says something about the season.

"Coach wants us to start having practices in February. But until then we can practice on our own or with another teammate." The Australian read off of her phone.

"When in February?" Jessie asked.

"Doesn't say. But I'd guess late, so it's not as cold as it is now." She said. Even though it was in the upper 60s.

It's not that cold. Ya know. Try dealing with it being a good ten to twenty below on really cold days, as a low. With it getting around 26 as a high" Mal said, a smile on her face.

Her growing up in Colorado, the weather here was nothing to what it has to be there. She could imagine snowstorms unleashing several feet.

"And Canada is colder too. Much colder. This weather feels like summer." Jessie added on.

"It is. I remember the U-20 World Cup a coupleYears back and it was cold even in November and early December." Mal said, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

After trash had been thrown away, the girl's made their way back to school. They would have a bit of time to mess around before classes started back up.

Mal's last class of the day was College Algebra   
Which she shared with Jessie. Jessie being the only person that Mallory knew in that class.

As the class went on, Mal would help Jessie with a problem if she didn't understand it and vise versa.

The final bell rang and a crowd of people made their way out as the two soccer players packed their stuff into the bags then headed towards the door.

"Teagan texted me asking if we'd like to join team bonding night." Mal relayed the message from the Aussie to the Canadian.

"Sounds great, who's room is gonna be at?" Jessie voiced as they walked back into the cold evening air.

"Looks like it's going to be at Teagan's room" Mal said, stepping over a small puddle, their hands accidently brushing against one another.

  
"Well let me grab a few things from my room, then we'll head over." Jessie commented and opened the door to their dorm lobby.

"Race you upstairs" Mal said with a gleam in her eye. And then took off running. It took Jessie a second to catch on but she immediately took off after her teammate.

Mal had a triumpent grin on her face as she leaned against her door.

" Gimme one moment to get my things" Jessie held up a finger. Mallory nodded and unlocked her door and went inside. Since it was about 5 in the evening (a/n I have no idea how college schedules work so just go with it) she grabbed her pajamas, her phone charger and a couple blankets.

By the time she was done Jessie was waiting by her door, her arms filled with junk food.

"So what happenens during team bonding?" Mal asked as she locked her door.

"Usually we watch movies and eat a bunch of junk food and then gossip a bit then we play a few games. Most of them to learn a few things about the others." Jessie smiled and they walked down the hall to where Teagan's room was.

They didn't even knock twice before the door swung open.

"Come on in guys!" The Keeper said, a grin on her face. Mal and Jessie walked insides, seeing Chloe, Anika and a few other girls there, sitting on the couches and a few on the floor.

"The first movie we'll be watching is Easy A" Jessie told the girls as she pulled it out of the stack that was in her bag.

"I love that movie" Mal heard Courtney say.

Some of the girl's agreed. Mal found a spot on the floor next to Chloe and sat down pulling one of her blankets around her.

She saw Jessie give her a smile as she sat down on the couch next to Maki and Claire.

Mal knew that her and Jessie would be good teammates, and even better friends. But neither would expect for them to become something more then friends


	3. Team Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delete and reposted with edits and updated/

CHAPTER 3-TEAM BONDING

  
  


Turns out, team bonding isn’t actually that bad. About half way through the first movie, Mal had been shoved over next to Chloe, Mal practically being on her lap to make room for the keeper. 

 

“Geez Teagan do you have to sit right next to Kaiya?” Jessie teased the Aussie. Who in response threw a pillow over at the Canadian. Teagan flipped her off causing Mallory to giggle.

 

After the movie had ended, the girls got in a circle on the Keeper’s bed, Jessie being across from Mallory. 

 

“Alright, normally we wouldn’t do this but since we have a newbie on the team. It’s only fitting that we do. Now we’ll go around and introduce ourselves. Then we’ll play never have I ever and then finish the other movies.” Chloe said, a grin on her face. The girls agreed.

 

“Jessie, why don’t you go first?” Teagan said, a daring smirk on her face.

 

The Canadian sent the Aussie a glare and then smiled. 

 

“Well as you all know, I’m Jessie Fleming. I’m 18 going to be 19 in March. I am apart of the Canadian Senior team, quite fun it is with that team” She laughed. “ I enjoy watching sports, photography, hikes and anything that has to do with the outdoors.” Jessie finished, looking around the room. 

 

“Alright, so Baby Canada went, Baby America. Your turn” Chloe said using the nickname for the girl.

 

“Well I’m Mallory Pugh but please call me Mal. I’m 18 going to be 19 in April. I’m apart of the United States Senior team. As well as the U-20’s. I enjoy walks on the beach, hiking, swimming, soccer. Just anything that has be outside. Uh apparently my team moms are Morgan Brian and Lindsey Horan, and others say it’s Tobin Heath and Christen Press. But really I go with Bean and Linds. So yeah” Mallory finished, a nervous grin on her face. She knew that she would fit in with the group, and that most of them knew all about her-due to her being on the National Team- But still they would get to know her well during the next 4 years.  (update on 4/21: HAHAHAHA WE THOUGHT SHE’D STAY. But nope. Our smol bean is going pro)

(Update on 5/19:Now she’s in the league. So proud.}

  
  


The rest of the team went around and introduced themselves. While Chloe was introducing herself Mallory saw Jessie starring at her. Which led Mal to smirk and raise an eyebrow at the Canadian. The middie instantly flushed a bright red and turned her head away.

 

“Actually we’re gonna skip Never have I ever and just go around sharing some of our best memories. I’ll go first.” Jessie said with a smile. She caught Mal’s eyes on her and blushed, a smile on her face. 

 

“I have to say, my best memory has to be when I made my debut for the Senior team.I was almost 16 at the time. The feeling of stepping onto the pitch, the crest over your heart, it’s hard to explain” Jessie said, while looking at Mal. 

 

They went back and forth before it was Mallory’s turn. 

 

“I’d have to say probably making my debut for the US team. And scoring my first international goal.” Mal said with a grin. 

 

“That feeling is honestly amazing.” Jessie breathed out, dreamy look in her eye. The two locked eyes for a minute or two before Kaiya cleared her throat and grinned at the pair. 

 

“Okay stop staring at each other.” She teased them, grinning.  The two blushed a bright red and turned their head away. The others just smirked. 

 

20 minutes later they were in front of the TV watching The Vampire Diaries (season 4) Mal was over my the window charging her phone when she got a text from non other then Lindsey.

 

**Mom #1: How was your first day?**

 

**‘It was good. Made some friends. Met Jessie Fleming’** Mal sent back. 

 

**-’She’s a sweet girl’**

 

**‘Yeah she might have a crush me on. But, like its okay. Cause I might like her.’**

**-**

**‘Have you told her?”**

 

**‘No are you crazy? Give me a month and I’ll tell her. Gotta dash. Luff Chu’**

 

 Mal pressed sent and turned her attention back to the show. Jessie kept staring back at the American. She was starting to feel something. But she couldn’t put a finger on it. Could she be falling in love with Mallory Pugh?

 

Meanwhile Mal was having the same conversation in her head. She had met Jessie before in a World Cup in 2014, which was in Canada. They had hit it off, only losing touch before the World Cup in 2015. 

 

Mal couldn’t help it, but a grin appeared on her face when she thought of Jessie. The pit inside of her stomach warmed. Whatever this feeling for Jessie was, it was going to impact Mallory. 

 

Was this the start of a friendship that could turn to more than just friends?

 

Or, would it ruin the friendship they already had?

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Hope y'all liked it. Comments are appreciated


End file.
